A Japanese superintendent who was put onto a Newcastle coal ship after two suspicious deaths, has become the third person to die on the ship in the last six weeks. Kosaku Monji, 37, was on the Sage Sagittarius on October 6 when it was unloading a cargo of Newcastle coal in the Japanese port of Kudamatsu.

Almost a week ago a crewman onboard bulk carrier MV Sage Sagittarius was reported missing, possibly after a dispute about conditions on the ship. An investigation had been initiated by the Australian Federal Police. Now the police is investigating again a second suspicious death on the coal ship Sage Sagittarius. The police has set up a crime scene at the ship, where it is berthed at the Dyke wharves at Carrington in Newcastle.